Domestic appliance



Oct 1943- J. B. DYER 2,331,897

DOMESTIC APPLIANCE Filed Jan. 8, 1940 3 Sheets-Sheet l ATTORNEYS 19, 1943. J. B..DYER 2,331,897

DOMESTIC APPLIANCE Filed Jan. 8, 1940 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 I73 /7/ a 1 m /e/ /79 ms ATTORNEYS Patented Oct. 19, 1943 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE DOMESTIC APPLIANCE John B. Dyer, Dayton, Ohio, assignor to General Motors Corporation, Dayton, Ohio, at corporation of Delaware Application January 8-, 1940, Serial No. 312,837

'7 Claims.

, cated washing machines, would be quite undesirable and would require a rather complicated control mechanism.

It is an object of my invention to provide a washing machine in which a simple substantially direct drive may be used for both the agitating means and the drying means.

It is another object of my invention to provide in a washing machine a simple, durable, inexpensive means for providing an automatic change from the washing or agitating period to the drying period.

It is another object of my invention to provide a simple, inexpensive, automatic control for the introduction of washing fluid, as well as washing, rinsing and drying in a direct drive washing machine.

It is another object of my invention to provide a simple means to control washing and drying by operating the driving motor in opposite directions. V

It is still another object of my invention to provide an automatic direct drive washing machine operating through a means common to both the agitating means, and a centrifugal drying means at motor speed.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings wherein a preferred form of the present invention is clearly shown.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a vertical sectional viewthrough a washing machine embodying one form of my ln- I vention;

Fig. 2 is a wiring diagram of the automatic control mechanism for the washing machine for the automatic control mechanism shown in Figs. 1 and 2;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view of the water mixing 'valve shown in Fig. 1;

Fig.5 is a wiring diagram for an automatic control of a modified form of washing machine;

Fig. 6 is a form of clutch control for the modified washingmachine replacing the clutch control shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 7 is a view of the driving motor and casing including the modified clutch control shown in Fig. 6; and

Fig. 8 is a'sectional view taken along the line 88 of Fig. 6.

Brief description Briefly, I have shown a washing machine provided with a spinning basket containing a rotatable agitating means having a helical vane for agitating the washing fluid and the clothes in the spinning basket during the washing and rinsing periods. The agitating means is connected through the bottom of the basket by a vertical shaft which may be a vertical extension of the motor shaft of an electric motor which is flexibly mounted beneath the spinning basket. The spinning basket is rotatably mounted upon a sleeve surrounding the shaft connecting the motor and the agitator, and this sleeve is provided at its lower end with a movable clutch plate which normally rests in engagement with a braking member. A clutch is also provided upon the motorshaft for lifting the clutch plate from the braking surface and making frictional engagement with the clutch plate to drive the spinning basket for. centrifugal drying of the clothes in the basket. An electric control means is provided for controlling the introduction of washing fluid into the basket and for operating the motor and the clutch means. In a modified form, a reversing driving motor is provided which, by reversing, controls the clutch means to provide an agitating period and a spinning period in opposite direction of rotation.

T e casing and framework Referring now to the drawings, and more particularly to Fig. 1, there is shown a washing ma chine including an ornamental sheet metal casing 20 within which is provided a supporting frame construction which includes four diago-,

nal supports 22, each provided at their lower ends with an adjustable glide 24 for supporting the washing machine upon the floor. The lower ends of the diagonally opposite diagonal supports 22 are connected by-straps 26 having their extreme endportions 28 turned upwardly-and fastened 'to the inner face of the sheet metal casing 20. The upper ends of the diagonally opposite diagonal supports 22 are connected to 6 the bottom or the bowed connecting members 30 which are fastened together by a rivet 32 at the intersection of the members 26. The upper ends of the,

members 30 are each provided with an aperture 80, from which the washing fluid will be drained by the discharge pipe 82. This action will pump the greater portion of the washing fluid from the basket member 66 through th apertures." in

tub so that the suds and curds which float on top of the water will be drained through the apertures I while the clothing lies around the mid portion of the basket member covering the apertures I2. The aperwhich receives a stud 34 at the end of a rubber tures 12 are m loyed for providing a means or connecting member 40 extendingirom the flange 36 at the upper end of the motor casing 38. The rubber connecting member 40 resiliently locates the upper end of the motor mounting of the electric driving motor 38 within the framework provided by the diagonal supports 22 and the connecting members.

The agitator and agitator drive escape for the remaining portion of the washing fluid which cannot be removed through the apertures I0.

The clutch and brake construction The upper portion 36 of the housing of the motor 88 is provided with a bearing section 84 which surrounds and supports the sleeve 54 and the bearing sleeve 52. The lower end of the The rotor of the electric motor as i provided sleeve 54 below e arin portion 84 as with an upwardly extending shaft 42 having a thimble-shaped agitator 44 threaded onto its upper end. This agitator 44 has a wide tapered flange 46 forming a skirt portion and a post pormentioned before, provided with a clutch plate 56. This clutch plate 56 is splined or otherwise connected to the bottom of the sleeve 54 so that it can move vertically, but cannot rotate with tion 48 providedwith a spiral vane 50. When respect to the sleeve A clutch Spring this agitator 44 is rotated at motor speed, the, water in the tub is churned towash the clothes.

The tub spinning drive tained by a retainer ring 88 fixed to the sleeve 54, is provided for holding the clutch plate 56 at'the bottom of its lower limit of vertical movement relative to the sleeve 54. At its periphery,

Surrounding the shaft 42 is a bearing sleeve the clutch plate 56 is provided with a clutch fac- 52 and surrounding the bearing sleeve 52 is a driving'sleeve 54 connected at its lower end to a clutch plate 56 and at its upper end to a flanged connector member 58 which is fastened by means ing 80 normally held in engagement with a brake ring 82 which is provided within the housing of the motor 38.

Within the brake ring 82, there is provided a of the plate 60 and the bolts 62 to the bottom movable clutch disc 84 which is fixed to a clutch of the spinning basket or tub 64.

The tub construction This spinning basket or tub 64 is provided with an inner basket member 66 which includes an oifset bottom portion 68 containing a plurality of drain apertures I0. At the mid portion of the side of the basket member 66 are additional drain apertures I2. 'The upper portion of the basket member 66 is tapered inwardly and provided with a strengthening flange I4.

Surrounding the basket member 66 i a flume member I6 which Joins the basket member 66 at the bottom of the offset portion 6 8 to make a double thickness of metal which extends between the members '58 and 60 andis clamped therebetween by the bolts 62. The portion of the flume member I6 beneath the aperture I2 is spaced from but closely conforms to the shape of the adjacent portions of the basket member 5 66. However, the remaining portion of the flume portion- I6 tapers outwardly slightly and at its upper edge is provided with an. outturned flange I8 This outturned flange I8 extends over the discharge flume 60 which is provided upon the inside walls of the casing 20. The bottom wall of this discharge flume 80 is provided with a slope, so that it drains to one side where there is located a discharge pipe 82 which extends directly downwardly.

Eflect of rotation of agitator and tub The construction is such that if the agitator.

44 is rotated at motor speed and the tub mem- 70 bar 64 held stationary, the washing fluid in the tub will be agitated in a doughnut-shaped path. When the tub, 64 is rotated, the washing fluid will be pumped out of the flume member I6 and collar 86 which, in turn, is splined or keyed to the drive shaft 42. This clutch collar 86 is provided with a groove engaged by a forked lever 88 which is pivoted to a support IM and connected at its outer end by a link I03 to the plungsleeve 54 and the tub 64, and at the same time lifting the clutch facing 80 away from the brake ring 82. When the solenoid I05 i deenergized, the clutch disc 84 will move downwardly, allowing the clutch facing 80 to again engage the brake ring 82 to stop the tub 64 and then the clutch disc 84 will move away from .the clutch facing I08 to disconnectthe motor 38 from the sleeve 54 and the tub 64. It should be noted that the spring 86 is contracted more and therefore exerts s a greater pressure when the clutch disc 84 lifts the clutch plate 56 than when the clutch plate 56 is in engagement with the brake ring 82. This serves to compensate for the smaller size of the clutch facing I08. Thus, by this construction, there is provided a very simple means for clutching the tub to the driving motor and for stopping the tub.

The motor support The bottom of the housing of the motor 38 is supported by a supporting member II I which, in turn, is supported by a bracket II2 held in place by the rivet 32. The connecting members 26 and 30 are sufficiently flexible to allow some thrown over its flange I8 into the discharge flume movement of the motor 38 and tub 64 with the The water supply system For supplying water or washing fluid to the tub 64, there is provided a pipe H3 extending upwardly through the bottom of the discharge fiume 80 and provided with a spout H5 extending over the rim 14 of the basket 66 so as to discharge the water or washing fluid into the tub 64. At the bottom of the pipe H3, is provided a mixing valve H1 which is shown in section in Fig. 4. This mixing valve H1 is connected to a and H9 so as to cause properly tempered water to be supplied to the pipe H3 and to the tub 64.

The hot water inlet pipe H9 is provided with a solenoid valve I21 which is opened when energized and closed when deenergized. The cold water inlet pipe I2I is provided with a similar valve I29. By this arrangement, when the cold water valve I29 is closed and the Valve I21 is opened, only hot water is discharged into the tub 64.. When the cold water valve I29 is opened and the hot water valve I21 is closed, only cold water will be supplied to the tub 64. However, when both the valves I21 and I29 are opened, the butterfly valve I23 will so proportion the amount of water flowing through the valve H1 that tempered water will be supplied to the tub 64.

The automatic control system An automatic control I3I provided with a control knob I33 upon the outside of the casing is provided for automatically controlling the washing machine. This automatic control, as is better shown in Figs. 2 and 3, is so made that the knob I33 can be turned to any desired washing period from 1 to 15 minutes and the complete Washing, rinsing and drying operations will be thereafter automatically performed, after which the machine will be stopped automatically. As shown in Fig. 3, indices fofil on and washing period are providedon the outside of the cabinet which cooperate with the knob I33 provided with the indices 0, 5, l0, and 15. When the knob I33 is turned to the ofi" position, everything is deenergized and the entiremachine is idle. In order to start the machine, the knob must be turned so that some point between the indices 0 and 15 is placed opposite the washing period. This will govern the length of time the clothes are washed. This knob I33 is connected to a rotatable contactor; I35 which is shown in Fig. 3 in a position it assumes when the knob I33 is turned to start the machine.

This rotatable contactor I35 is directly connected to the knob I33 and also to a timing driving motor I31 which is preferably of such a type having a relatively constant speed and preferably it is somewhat similar to the motor ofan electric clock. This contactor I35 is provided with five sliding contacts designated by the reference characters I4I, I42, I43 I44 and I45.

The timing driving motor The contact MI is shown in engagement with the stationary contact slide I41. The sliding contact I45 is shown in engagement with the contact slide I49. The conductors I5I and I53 connect to a suitable source of electric energy. The conductor I5I is, in turn, connected by the conductor I55 to the rotatable contactor I35. This rotatable contactor I35 provides an electrical connection with the sliding contact I45 and the contact slide I49. The contact slide I49 is, in turn, connected to the conductor I51 which, in turn, connects to the timing driving motor I31 of an automatic control. This timing driving motor I31 is, in turn, connected by the conductor I59 to the supply conductor I53. This will start and keep in operation the timing motor I 31 for the duration of the entire washing, rinsing and drying operations, since the contact slide I49 is sufiiciently long to keep this circuit closed throughout these operations.

The initial hot water charge The contact arm I 35 also conducts current to the slide contact I4I and to the contact slide I41. This contact slide I41 is, in turn, connected by the conductor IBI to a bimetal timer I63 which cooperates with and operates between the contacts I65 and I61. The contact I65 is connected by a conductor I69 to a conductor I1I. This conductor I1I has one end connected to a solenoid I13 and extends to the supply conductor I53 while the other end connects to the contact slides I15 and I11. When the contactor I35 has the slide contact MI in engagement with contact slide I41, and the bimetal timer I63 is in engagement with the contact I65, electric current will flow from the conductor I55 through the contact line I35, the contact slide I4I, the conductor ii, the bimetal timer I63, the contact I69 and the conductor "I, which includes a solenoid I13 to the power source I 53. This will cause the solenoid switch I19 operated by the solenoid I13 to close the circuit which includes the conductors I8I and I83, as well as the solenoid of the hot water valve I21 so that current will flow from the source conductor I5I through the solenoid of the hot water valve I21 to the source conductor I53 to open the hot water inlet valve I21. This circuit, however, will only be maintained for a relatively short time until the tub 64 receives an adequate supply of hot water. The amount of this supply is timed by the bimetal timer I63 which when heated sufliciently will leave the contact I 65 and move into engagement with the contact I61.

The washing period When this is done, the current will then flow through the conductor I including solenoid I81 to the supply conductor I53. This will close the solenoid switch I89, thereby completing the circuit from the conductor I5 I through the conductors I! and I93 and through the driving motors 38 to the supply conductor I53. This will remain energized to agitate the clothes.

- the knob I33ls set for the full fifteen minute Allf'during anal-1m, period, a." length I33 and the contact arm I", the motor 33 will When washing period, the contact arm I35 will begin at the lower end,-oi the slide I41. For a lesser The first spinning operation A short time after this, the contact I will engage the contact slide I33 which is connected by a conductor I95 with a conductor I85 and the solenoid I81 so that the solenoid I31 and the motor 38 will be again energized and start operation of the motor. However, at this time also,

the contact I42 will also engage the contact slide I91 which is connected by the conductor I99 to the solenoid 202, and the solenoid switch 204, which will allow electric current to fiow from the source conductor I5I through the conductors 208 and 208 to energize the clutch solenoid I05. This will raise the clutch collar 35 and cause the clutch disc 94 to engage the clutch facing I09 and lift the clutch facing 90 of! the brake ring 92 so that the tub 64 is released from the brake ring and is clutched to the motor 33 in a direct drive so that it rotates at motor speed along with the agitator 44. v This will cause the centrifugal draining of the basket member 38 largely through the outlet apertures 10, as mentioned before, when the tub G4 was described. This continues for a period of about five minutes in proportion to-the length of the contact slide I93 so that the tub 64 is completely emptied and the clothes dried.

The second hot water charge After this, the contact arm I35 continues to move and the contact I43 makes engagement with the contact I while the only other contact active is the contact I45. This allows direct current to fiow from the contact arm I35 through the conductor HI and the solenoid I13 to again close the circuit of the hot water valve I21 to allow hot water to fiow again into the tub 64. At this time, the amount of hot water is controlled by the length of the contact slide I15. When the contact arm I35 reaches the end of this contact slide I15, the supply of hot water is shut off by the deenergization of the solenoid of the valve I21. I

The first rinsing At the same time, the contact I again makes engagement with a contact slide 2I0 which is connected to the contact slide I93 and, in turn, is connected to the solenoid I81 of the, switch I89 to close the circuit of the motor 38. .This will cause agitation of the clothes in fresh hot water to give the clothes a hot water rinse. When at the end of about five minutes, the contact arm I35 reaches the end of the slide contact 2I0, the motor 38 is stopped for an interval of about one minute.

The second drying period After this, the slide contact I again makes engagement with a contact slide 2I2 which is in series with the contactslides 2Il and I93 for again energizing the driving motor 33. At this of which is governed by the initial setting of the knob tor, in order to time, the, contact I42 is in engagement with the contact. slide 2| 4 which is connected in series with the contact slide I31 to again energize the solenoid I05 to clutch the tub to the driving mospin the tub and remove the hot rinse water.

The tempered water ch rge When the contact arm I35 reaches the end of the contact slides 2I2 and 2I4, the contact I43, after a brief intervaLwill make engagement with the contact slide I 11 which closes the circuit of the conductor "I to energize the solenoid I13 01' the switch I19 to energize the solenoid of the hot the cold water valve I29 to the supply conductor I53 for allowing both hot and cold water to fiow to the mixing valve II1 which will mix the hot and cold water so that tempered water will be supplied to the tub.

The second rinsing When the contact arm I35 reaches the end of the contact slides I11 and 2I5, the contact I will engage another contact slide 228 which will connect through the contact slides 2I2, 2I0 and I93 to the conductors I95 and I to again enersize the driving motor 38, This will again-operate the agitator I44 so as to agitate the clothes in tempered rinse water.

The final drying period lease thetub 64 from its brake and to clutch thetub to the driving motor 38. This will operate the agitator 44 and the tub 84 at motor speed in order to remove the water from the tub 64 and dry the clothes.

Modified form In Figs. 5 to 8, I have shown a-modiiied system which includes a reversing motor and a clutch mechanism operated by the reversing of the motor to control the spinning of the tub. As is best shown in Fig. 7, the modified reversing motor and motor housing "I has the motor shaft .303 provided with a clutch operating-pin 305, the opposite ends of which extend and ride within inclined slots 301 provided in a modified clutch collar 309. one direction, the pin will move into the upper end of the slot and cam the clutch disc 94 downwardly so that the clutch plate 59 will have its outer facing resting upon the brake ring 92,

thereby stopping and preventing rotation of the When the motor operates in I brake ring and clutching the tub to the driving motor. This will cause the rotation in the reverse direction of the tub 64 along with the agitator'44, making it possible tt centrifugally r move the water and drythe clothing in the tub. This movement of the pin 305 in the slots 301 takes place by reason of the inertia of the clutch disc 94 which may be weighted at its rim'to in crease its moment of inertia 01 the motor.

The modified automatic control in Fig. 1. This automatic control is connected to the supply conductors 311 and 313. The supply conductor 311 connects to a contact slide 315 which, in turn, makes contact with the slide contact 311 upon the rotatable arm 319. This rotatable arm 319 difiers fromthe rotatable arm 135 .in that an insulating section 321 is provided between the contact 311 and the remaining contacts 322, 323, 324 and 325. The extreme end of the'arm 319 is shown connected to an electrical conductor 321 by a flexible conduc-. tor 'for illustrative purposes. However, in actual practice, this connection would be made by a contact slide which would extend in a complete circle and make, contact at all times with the end portion of the arm 3 I 9.

The rotatable arm 319 is connected to a con; ductor 329. This conductor 329 supplies the cur--v rent to a transformer 331 which is connected in a circuit 333 extending between the conductor 329 and the conductor 313. The timing driving motor 335 is also connected across theconductors 329 and 313, so that boththe transformer 331 and the motor 335 are energized whenever the automatic control is used.

The first hot water charge I Whenever the rotatable arm 319 is set to begin washing, the contact 325 will be in engagementwith the contact slide 331 which will close the circuit which includes the conductor 339, the timing bimetal 341, the contact 343, the conductors 345 and 341, the solenoid switch 349, the

conductor 351 and the secondary coil of the trans- The'washirzg period The bimetal 341, when heated, will engage the" opposite contact 353 which will close the circuit from the transformer 331 through the conductors 321, the outer end of the arm 319, the contact 325, and the contact slide 331, the conductor 339, the bimetal 341, the contact 353, the conductor 355 and the solenoid switch 351 which, in turn, is connected to the conductor 351. The energization of the solenoid switch 351 will connect the motor 301 across the conductors 329 and 331 and the sudden start will continue and cause the agitator 44 to be rotated to wash the clothes until the rotatable arm 319 reaches the end of the contact slide 331, a which will cause the motor 301 to be stopped.

\ The first drying period Shortly after, the, contact 324 will engage the contact slide 359 which is connected to other contact slides 361 and 393. 1 contacts 324 and 359 will close the circuit which includes the conductor 365, the motor reversing solenoid switch 361, the conductor 351, transformer 331, the conductor 321 and the end portlon of the arm 319. This 'will close the motor reversing switch 361 and energize the motor 301 to operate in the reverse direction. This reversal of themotor will cause the pin 395 to move to the opposite end of the slots 301 so as to cause the clutch disc 94 to raise the clutch plate 56 to drive ,in a reverse direction the tub 64 as well as the agitator 44. This will continue until the contact 324 reaches the end of the contact slide 359.

The second hot water charge tub 64 for a period corresponding to the length of the contact slide 369. The first rinsing After this, the contact 325 will engage the contact 315 which closes a circuit through the conductors 311 and 355, the motor solenoid switch 351, the transformer 331, and the conductor 321. This will close the motor solenoid switch 351 to cause the motor 301 to rotate in the normal or 'forward direction to rotate the agitator 44 at motor speed. This will thoroughly rinse the clothes in the hot water. This will continue until the contact 325 reaches the end of the contact slide 315.

x The second drying period Shortly after this, the contact 324 will engage the contact slide 361 to close the circuit which includes the conductor 365 and the motor reversing solenoid switch 361. This will close a circuit extending from the conductor 329 through the conductor319 and includes reversing connections, with the driving, motor 301. This will cause the driving motor 301-to operate in the reverse direction, thereby operating the clutch collar 309 and the clutch disc 94 to cause the tub 64 to be clutched directly to the motor 301 so that the tub will be drained and the clothes dried by centrifugal action. The contact slide is sufiiciently long that substantially all of the rinsing water will be expelled by the time the contact 324 reaches the end of the contact slide 361.

The tempered water charge Shortly after this, the contact 323 will engage the contact slide 311 to open the hot water valve 121, while at the same time the contact 323 will engage the contact slide 381 to close a circuit which includes the conductor 383, the cold water solenoid switch 385, the conductor 351, the transformer 331 and the conductors 321. This will close the solenoid switch 385 to energize the solenoid in the cold water valve 129, thereby causing The contacting of the this valve to open. Thus, at this time, both the solenoid valves I21 and I23 will be opened to admit both hot and cold water to the mixing valve I I! which will mix the two supplies of water in such proportions, by means of the butterfly valve I23, so that properly tempered water is supplied to the pipe H3 for discharge into the tub N. The amount of tempered water supplied is governed by the length of the contact slides 3H and 3M which are made so as to provide a sum cient amount of water.

, The second-rinsing Shortly after this; the contact 325 engages another contact slide 381 which is connected in series with the contact slide 315 for causing the motor 3M to operate in the forward direction so as to rotate the agitator 44 at motor speed.

The final drying period When the contact 325 reaches the end of the contact slide 381, after a short interval, the contact 324 will engage the contact slide 363 which is connected in series with the contact slide-3H and 359, in order to cause the motor 3M to operate in the reverse direction, thereby clutching the tub 64 to the motor 30| to expel the water and dry the clothes by centrifugal action. The contact slide 383 is made sufficiently long to properly -dry the clothes.

Summary Thus, I have provided a washing machine in which the agitator and the tub are directly con.-

'nected to the driving motor to provide agitation and centrifugal drying at motor speed. Prefer ably, some form of motor preferably of the induction type is provided, having a maximum speed of not over nine hundred R. P. M. For the reversing motor "I, it is desirable that the motor have a high starting torque, so as to better operate the clutch collar 330 through the medium of the pin 305 and the inclined slots 301. It will be seen that the mechanism is very simple as compared to most other machines, and free from likelihood of meeffective by the rotation of the shaft means in one direction for causing said means for preventing the rotation of the tub to prevent rotation of the tub, and rendered effective by the rotation of the shaft means in the opposite direction for causing said means for preventin the rotation of the tub to release said tub for rotation.

2. A washing machine including a rotatable agitator means and a rotatable tub rotatable with respect to each other, a driving means, means for operably connecting the agitator means and the driving means, selective means effective in one position for preventing rotation of the tub, said selective means being eflective in a second position for rotating the tub, an operating means for said selective means rendered effective by rotation of the agitating means in one direction for moving said selective means to one p..;ition for preventing rotation of the tub and rendered effective by rotationof the agitating means in the opposite direction for moving said selective means to said second position for rotating the tub.

3. A washing machine including a reversible motor having a direct connected shaft means, a tub'rotatably mounted upon the shaft means, an agitator means mounted within the tub, means for preventing rotation of the tub, means for operably connecting said agitator means to said shaft means for causing said agitator means to agitate the contents of the tub, means rendered effective by the rotation of said shaft means and the operation of the motor in one direction for causing said means for preventing the rotation of the tub to prevent rotation of the tub, and means rendered effective by the rotation of said shaft means and the operation of the motor in the opposite direction for causing said means for preventing the rotation of the tub to release said tub for rotation and to operably connect said tub to said shaft means to cause rotation of said tub.

4. A washing machine including a rotatable agitator means, a rotatable tub rotatable with respect to the agitator means, a reversible driving .means, means for operatively connecting the agitator means and the driving means, and selective means effective in one position for preventing the rotation of the tub, such selective means being effective in a second position for rotating the tub,

and an operating means for said selective means rendered effective by rotation of the driving means in one direction for moving said selective means to said one position for preventing rotation of the tub and rendered effective by rotation of the driving means in the opposite direction for moving said selective means to said second position for rotating the tub.

5. A washing machine comprising a rotatable tub, an agitator within the tub, a movable member operably connected to said tub, a driving means operably connected to said agitator, a relatively stationary means, and means for selectively operably connecting said movable member and either of said means.

6. A washing machine comprising a rotatable tub, an agitator within the tub, a movable member operably connected to said tub, a driving means operably connected to said agitator, a relatively stationary means, said movable member being biased into connection with one of said means, and means for opposing said bias to break said connection and for connecting said movable member with the other of said means.

7. A washingmachine comprising a rotatable tub, an agitator within the tub, a movable member operably connected to said tub, a driving means operably connected to said agitator, a relatively stationary means, said movable member being biased into frictional engagement with said stationary means, and means for opposing said bias to break said connection and for simultaneously subjecting said movable member 'to frictional engagement with said driving means.

JOHN B. DYER. 

